Method of and apparatus for shaping metallic tubing



I 1,645,434, 1927' w. E. LINDBLOM METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METALLIC TUBING Filed June 25. ,l923 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1927' w. E. LINDBLOM METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METALLIC TUBING Filed June 25. 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 [162/72 fi z'rzdfiiam 9 13 Jul 7 1927. Oct w. E. LINDBLOM METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METALLIC TUBING 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 25, 1923 I 71296712 57? WIZZZ'Q/JZ Z: lZ'ndZO 9 (3% 07% @y 1927' w. E. LINDBLOM METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METALLiC TUBING Filed June 25, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fzzkerzz or flz'rzdfiiam Patented Oct. 11, 1927.

1 UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. LINDBLOK, O1 KENOSKA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR '10 SIMMONS COMPANY, 01 IENOSEA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 01! DELAWARE.

IETEOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METALLIC TUBING.

Application filed June 85, 1923. Serial No. 647,479.

The present invention relates more particularly to the manufacture of metallic tubing especially adapted for use in the making of metallic furniture, although themvention is susceptible of wider application. In the manufacture of metallic furniture n whole or in part from seamless tubing, it

is highly desirable that portions of the tubing s ould be provided wth a lon 'tudinal flange or chest part to better ena le such portions to be connected to other parts to which the are to be joined or which need to be hel in position. Thus, for example, in the manufacture of a mirror frame from 16 metal tubing, it is desirable that the bod of the tubing constitutingi1 the frame shal be formed with a flange t at shall serve to re- 1 tain the mirror in place within the frame;

and in the accompanying drawings, the tubing shown is more particularly adapted for such purpose.

The invention consists in the method of an apparatus for shaping metallic tubing, such as will be hereinafter described, and

as pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of my improved apparatus, a section of tubing being shown associated therew th. Fig. 2

so is a view in cross section on line 2:-2 of 1. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 1s a view in vertical section on line of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view showing the form of the several rolls (illustrated in Fig. 2) used in initially shaping the tubing. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the shaping rolls shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is an enlar ed view in cross section through a roun seamless tube before its passage through my improved shap ng apparatus. Fig. 8 is a detail view showing a modification of the rolls for imparting rectangular shape to the tubing and bringmg together the folds of metal to form the flange of the tubing.

Upon substantial base rails A, which may be formed of channel iron as shown, are mounted the several sets of rolls by which the shaping of the metallic tubing will be effected. The first set of rolls, illustrated more particularly in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings, is mounted within a frame block or su port B that may be of the shape illustrate this frame-block having base lugs 10 and 11 that are bolted to the rails A. As shown, the frame-block B is open at its center and is provided with a series of cross channels 12, 13, 14 and 15 in which are adjustably mounted the carrier plates for the several shapin rolls C, C, D and D. The several rolls (3? C, D and D are journaled respectively in the bifurcated inner ends of the roll carriers 17, 18, 19 and 20, each of these roll carriers having at its upper end a socket to receive the head of an adjustin screw 21 that passes through a plate 22 having a threaded aperture therein, these plates 22 being bolted as at 23 to the frame-block B at the ends of the respective channels. The several roll carriers are held in place within their appropriate channels by plates 25 that extend across the channels and are bolted as at 26 to the frame-block B.

The peripheral surface of the several rolls C, C, D and D are preferably curved, the roll 0 having a convex surface, while the rolls C, D and D have their peripheral surfaces concaved. The peripheral surfaces of these several rolls are so shaped that in operating upon a round, closed tube, they will serve to change the shape of the tube and cause a portion thereof to be oflset from the body of the tube, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings; the body of the tubing being there designated asW and the offset portion being designated as w. The roll C is preferably formed at the outer end of its curved surface with a fiat-faced, annular shoulder 0 adjacent which is a beveled portion 0 that travels in contact, or approximately in contact,- with a correspondingly beveled portion 03 of the roll 1); while at the opposite end of the roll C there is formed a similar beveled portion 0 that travels opposite the beveled portion d of the roll D. Similarly, the roll I) has at one end an annular beveled portion 03 arranged to abut the correspondingly beveled end 0 of the roll C, and the roll D has a beveled end (Z abutting the beveled end 0' of the roll C.

From the parts as thus far defined, it will be seen that when a circular tube W is passed through the rolls C, C, D and D, these rolls will serve to give to the tube the shape shown in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings, and in this shape, the tubing will pass between the set of rolls next to be described, and shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings.

Hill

This second set of rolls comprises two rolls E and E that are journaled in the bifurcated inner ends of the roll carriers 30 and 31 that are adjustably mounted within a channeled frame-block F, the base lugs 32 and 33 of which are bolted as at 34 to the,base rails A. Preferably, the channels that receive the roll carriers 30 and 31 are inclined from the vertical, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings, and across the outer ends of these channels extend the plates 35 having threaded openings therein to receive the adjusting screws 36, the inner ends of which screws are secured to the outer ends of the roll carriers 30 and 31. The roll carriers are held in place within the channels of the frame-block F by plates 37 and 38 suitably bolted to the sides of-the frame-block F. Preferably, the rolls E and E have their peripheries shaped as shown in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings, the periph eral V-shaped grooves of these rolls being in offset relation and one of the rolls E having its surface 0 of greatest diameter overlapping the beveled ortion e of the roll E, while both the rolls and E have flat peripheral portions a and '6 adapted to substantially abut when the rolls are adjusted to operative position. When the rolls are in such operative position, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings the surface e of the roll E and the surface e of the roll E will overlap and be at such distance apart as to permit the two thicknesses of tubing to be compressed together, or approximatel so, between the surfaces 6 and 8, while t e remaining peripheral surfaces of the rolls E and E impart a rectangular shape to the tubing W, as shown.

In case it is deemed desirable to impart a curvature to the flange 'w of the tubing, the tubing will be passed through a third set of rolls such as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Such a curvature of the flange w is desirable when the tubing is to be shaped to form the frame of a mirror, for example, in which case, the 'curved flange will serve to retain the mirror -in position within the frame. This third set of rolls. when employed, may consist of a pair of rolls G and G having peripheries shaped as shown in Fig. 4. These rolls will be journaled in roll carriers 40 and 41, similar to the roll carriers hereinbefore described. that will be mounted within a frame-block H (see Fig. 1), having base lugs 42 bolted to the base rails A. The frame-block H has a horizontal channel extending from front to back thereof, this channel being provided a its ends with plates 43 similar to the plates22.

and 35 hereinbefore described and similarly bolted to the frame-block H. Each of these plates 43 (one only being shown) is formed with a threaded opening to receive an adjusting screw bolt 44, similar .to the screw sponding to the portion 9 of the roll G,

with a reduced portion arranged op osite the reduced portion 9 of the roll and wlth a concave peripheral surface 9 opposite the convex surface of the portion 9 of the roll G. The portions g and 5 of the rolls G and G will be held at sufli cient dlstance apart to receive the flange 'w of the tubln W, while the rectangular body of the tu mg passes between the reduced portions 9 and g of these rolls: and as the tublng 1s passed between these rolls G and G theport1ons g and 9 thereof will serve to impart to the flange of the tubing the curvature.1llustrated in Fig. 4.

Without departing from the spirit of m nvention, the shape and number of the rol s in the several sets may be varied. Thus, for example, in the modification indicated in Fig. 8 of the drawings, there is shown a set of rolls K, K, L and L that may be employed instead of rolls E and E shown 1n Flgs. and 6 of the drawings. In this mod1ficat1on, the rolls are so shaped and disposed as to give a finished rectangular form to the tublng and to compress together, or

approximately together, the, folds of metal forming the longitudinal flange w of the tubing.

In the practice of my invention, a length of round metallic tubing, such as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, will be inserted be tween the several sets of rolls and the rolls will be adjusted to their proper respective positions. The length of tubing will be drawn through the rolls by tongs in the usual manner, and as it is thus drawn through, the several sets of rolls will serve to lmpart the finished tubing the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings. If, however, it is not desired to impart a curvature to the flange w of the tubing, the set of rolls G and G will be omitted.

Havlng thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. The method of re-shaping substantially round metallic tubing into tubing of substantially polygonal shape, having a longitudinally extending flange constituting a lateral continuation of one of its sides, which method consists in first distorting a closed tube so as to force an excess of wall area to one slde thereof, and then imparting the desired shape thereto and compressing said excess of wall material to form said longitudinally extending flange of double thickness integral with the top, and constituting a continuation of one side thereof.

2. A machine for shaping metallic tubing and comprising a plurality of sets of shaping rolls, one of said sets having rolls with curved faces for distorting a length of tubing of symmetrical shape in cross section to a non-symmetrical shape, wherein an excess of wall area is disposed along one side thereof, and another of said sets being adapted to compress the said wall area to form a longitudinally extending flan e of double thickness integral with the tu e and constituting a substantially unbroken continuation of a part of the side wall of the tube.

3. The method of shaping metallic tubin that consists in first distorting a roun closed tube to produce an excess of material at one side thereof and then imparting a rectangular shape to said tubing and compressing said excess of material to form longitudinally of the tubing a flange of double thickness.

4. The method of re-shaping substantially round metallic tubing and forming an integral longitudinally extending flange thereon which consists in surroundin substantially the entire circumference of the tube with a plurality of forming rolls having their respective faces shaped and arranged relative to each other so as to approach the desired finished shape of the tube, and so as to be effective to force an excess of wall area of the tube to one side thereof, propelling the tube through said rolls and thereafter propelling the tube through additional shaping means for compressing said excess wall area to form a double thickness flange and for imparting the desired shape to the rest of the tube.

5'. A machine for re-shaping metallic tubing and forming an integral flange thereon extending longitudinally thereof, and comprising a plurality of forming rolls having their faces arranged in juxtaposition so as to form a substantially complete enclosure approaching the shape to be impressed on the tubing, and additional means adapted to receive the tubing from said forming rolls for forming the flange on the tubing and impressing the desired shape thereto.

6. The method of re-shaping substantially round metallic tubing into tubing of polygonal cross section and having a flange extending lengthwise thereof and forming a continuation of one of the sides of the tube, which consists in distorting a round tube to a shape approaching the desired polygonal shape and having an excess of wall area along one side thereof, and then compressing sald excess of Wall area to form a double thickness flange and impressing the desired shape to the rest of the tube.

7. A machine for shaping metallic tubing comprislng a plurality of sets of shaping rolls, one of said sets having rolls with curved faces adapted to distort the tubing and produce an excess of material at one side thereof and another of said sets being adapted to give a rectangular shape to the tubing and to compress the said excess of material to form a flange of double thickness extending longitudinally of the tubing.

8. A machine for shaping metallic tubing comprising a plurality of sets of shaping rolls, one of said sets having rolls with curved faces adapted to distort the tubing and to produce an excess of material at one side thereof and another of said sets having rolls with V-shaped surfaces and lapping portions adapted to compress the said excess of material to form a flange of double thickness extending longitudinally thereof and give a rectangular shape to the tubing.

9. A machine for shaping metallic tubing comprising a plurality of sets of shaping rolls, one of said sets having rolls with curved faces adapted to distort the tubing and to produce an excess of material at one side thereof, another of said sets being adapt ed to compress the said excess of material to form a flange of double thickness extending longitudinally of the tubing, and a third set of rolls adapted to curve said longitudinal flange.

WILLIAM E. LINDBLOM. 

